OKLAHOMA CITY - The Rockets went with a new starter Wednesday night so they could go small against the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's just that they didn't tell the new starter, guard Patrick Beverley, he was supposed to be the small one.

No one played bigger than he did. No one played with a bigger heart.

And when the game ended at Chesapeake Energy Arena, the Rockets had almost pulled off the biggest upset of this season's NBA playoffs.

After losing to the Thunder by 29 points in Game 1 of the Western Conference's first round Sunday night, the Rockets had the lead with less than 3 minutes left before finally succumbing 105-102.

You could say the Rockets, the NBA's youngest team, grew up. That may or not be true.

But they did send a message to the Thunder, the best team in the West, that they weren't going to go without a fight.

Telling moment

If there was one moment when the Thunder realized that, it was midway through the second quarter when Russell Westbrook was trying to call a timeout. Beverley kept playing until he heard the whistle, going for a steal, knocking knees with Westbrook.

Westbrook, limping, pounded the scorer's table, glared at Beverley and looked like he might take a step toward him in the Rockets' huddle before deciding otherwise.

"Patrick is a tough little guy from Chicago,'' Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "He's going to fight you for it.''

Westbrook did pretty much anything he wanted to do against the Rockets on Sunday night, falling two rebounds short of a triple-double in only three quarters, and McHale said afterward that someone had to at least occasionally breathe hard in his direction.

He chose Beverley.

"In December, he was in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now he's starting in a playoff game,'' McHale said. "That's a pretty good story.''

It would be foolish to say Beverley took Westbrook out of the game. Westbrook still had 29 points, tying Kevin Durant for the team high, but Beverley harassed him from one end of the court to the other.

It wasn't one of Westbrook's most efficient games. He shot 10-for-26 from the field (1-for-7 from 3-point range) and finished with a mere four assists.

Westbrook didn't take it well, refusing Beverley's hand to help him up on one of the many times the Thunder guard hit the floor.

"I would have done the same thing if he had tried to pick me up,'' Beverley said.

16, 12 and 6

Meantime, Beverley, the second smallest of the Rockets' smalls at 6-1, 185 pounds, had 12 rebounds, five of them offensive, to add to his 16 points and six assists.

It was a particularly impressive performance considering the Rockets' three-guard small lineup reverted to two guards when Jeremy Lin couldn't return for the second half because of a chest injury.

Beverley also drew his fourth foul, a product of guarding Westbrook, with 7:56 left in the third quarter and sat out four minutes. When a two-point Thunder lead became nine, McHale felt he had no choice put to put Beverley back in.

If it affected his aggressiveness, it didn't show. He blocked a Westbrook shot early in the fourth and later stole the ball from him as the Rockets overtook the Thunder.

Asked if he thought the first-half incident with Westbrook had fired up Beverley, McHale said: "You don't need anything to fire up Patrick. If you throw the ball up, Patrick is ready to go.''

Rockets fans who have watched him energize the team in relief of Lin knew that. But he no doubt was a revelation to a national audience, maybe even a local one that doesn't have the cable channel that regularly televises the team.

While Beverley was getting dressed after the game, a TNT reporter asked to interview him.

"Me?'' he said.

When a crowd gathered, he said: "I'm not used to this.''

He was much less intimidated by Westbrook.

"If you know my character, you know I'm not going to back down to anyone,'' said Beverley, who had signaled he was ready to rumble early when he ripped off the Band-Aid from a cut over his left eye. "I don't care if it's Russell Westbrook or anyone else.''

But he shook his head when it was suggested he had flustered Westbrook.

"At the end of the day, he's an All-Star,'' Beverley said. "I don't think he was bothered by me. I didn't get under his skin. I was just trying to play my game, and he was playing his game. It was just good basketball.''